


The 70th

by aPaperCupCut



Category: Devilman (Anime & Manga), Devilman Crybaby - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack Treated Seriously, Dimension Travel, M/M, Time Shenanigans, What am I doing, and he knows hes satan so ya., crybaby akira and ryo meet ova ryo and akira, i have very little idea where this going. my brainstorm drafts only have 4 chapters planned out, my sister bribed me with toast with nutella on it to post this, original title was 'the eighties want their hair back', ova ryo is a sad, theres sniffing of hair here yo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-27
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-04-28 12:17:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14449119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aPaperCupCut/pseuds/aPaperCupCut
Summary: One Ryo Asuka, completely exhausted and more than a little emotionally distraught (let me rephrase that: melodramatic.), manages a completely deus ex machina and transports himself to a different time loop. Now what's he supposed to do? Make friends with the weird version of himself with an attachment to ugly bowl-cuts and a horrific fashion sense? Somehow he can't see that happening.Meanwhile, Akira suddenly finds himself magically teleported to a very strange mirror version of his town, where he finds out that he's not the only devilman! Unfortunately, the devilman he's met is himself.





	1. Start at the end and work backwards

**Author's Note:**

> Basically the first two chapters of this are a recap of the summary >.> sorry not sorry. OVA!Ryo is super angsty, btw. Also, in the very few notes I've written for this, Crybaby!Ryo is called "rio", OVA!Akira is "as" (as in "ass") and Crybaby!Akira is "aki." Literally the only one to not get his name butchered is OVA!Ryo.
> 
> I have literally been sitting on the final drafts of the first two chapters of this since February.

The skin was cold and stiff beneath his fingers, grey and unmoving. Unloving. He caressed that once passionate jawline, and pressed his lips against an unrelenting cheek.

The eyes were grey and glazed. Sightless. Satan looked over the horizon, and saw the glimmer of red seas, thrashing under a broken moon and a furious sun. It would all be gone soon.

His father was coming.

Akira would never see this Earth again. Satan already knew that he, himself, would. Oh, he would.

His brothers above him stared, unacting until their father arrived. He could not stand their shared gaze, and so he turned from them, pressing his face into his beloved’s shoulder. If he closed his senses to the dull stench of death, he could catch that distinct scent that was so _Akira._

Then, as if a scale had been tipped, a shudder pushed the dead soil beneath him upward. The seas grew louder, tumultuous in his father's fervor, and Satan - no, now he could only act as _Ryo_  - gripped Akira tighter. Let what may come, come unto him; let what punishment may be, be, but Ryo would not part from Akira’s side. He refused to. Not this time. He was tired of leaving Akira's side.

_“ **Satan**.”_

He closed his eyes, squeezed them shut. Behind him, he could feel his brothers’ presence grow, the weight of it heavy on his shoulders. Would they dare touch him? Him, Satan, the rebellious child, the one their own forgiving father had forsaken?

They did not dare.

_“ **Satan.** ”_ The voice was more urgent now, even with its slow, steady tones. _“ **Youngling, your misdeeds require punishment.** ”_

Fear encouraged him to speak, encouraged his tight grip on his dearest friend to grow stronger. “O _Great_ Lord, you know I will never follow your laws, regardless of the punishment. So, _father mine, punish_  me, and see what _misdeeds_  I continue to commit.”

A pause. He had opened his eyes, but locked his gaze onto Akira’s lax expression. He knew his father would not appreciate his spitting, biting tone. He knew, also, that he did not care.

_“ **I see.** ”_

Ryo’s arms shivered. That was the only warning he received.

They grabbed at him, tugged him backwards forcefully, while his father reached down with immortal hands, snatching his Akira away from him - but Ryo snatched back. It felt like a war cry.

He pounded his wings, picking up gusts of dust, smacking his brothers off of him, throwing dirt into their eyes. He darted forward, throwing himself at the being he called _father,_  flooded over, no, _boiling_  over, with something so thick and drowning that he tasted sulfur on his tongue.

He wrapped his entire being around the small, oh so very small, corpse, pushing himself away from the cloister of divine beings, lifting himself up with a thrust of his wings, trying desperately to get away. It didn't matter, that the effort was useless; it didn't matter that he'd see Akira again. All he wanted was to remain by this last remnant of this Akira.

With a howl of fury, his brothers converged upon him in a cloud of starlit wings and blinding flesh. Fists scrambled against his wings, tearing fistfuls of feathers that crumbled to dust as they separated from his body. He withheld cries of pain, and, with a willpower he had forgotten in the tide of mourning, he flipped himself over, covering his Akira’s body with his own sinuous one.

His brothers nails rent thin gashes down his back, and he felt blood slip softly down with the force of gravity. Ryo kept his heart still, his eyes wide, trying to devour the image of his friend’s frozen face before his father took him from his arms.

_No._

His blood pounded in his ears. The chorus of his brothers’ efforts began to rise, calling for their father’s aid.

_I cannot let them take you._

He felt their presence recede, and, like a tsunami, the presence of his father’s wrath washed over him. He clutched Akira closer, despair quaking every cell in his body.

_They have taken everything from me. Over and over. They cannot - no, they will not - take you from me._

Hands on his back, so gentle, so gentle.

_You have taken yourself from me already._

The sound of breathe against his ear.

_Let me have this final remnant of you._

His heart gasped. A white light flooded the blackness beneath his eyelids.

_Please._

All was silent.


	2. Chapter 2

Akira blinked. The sound of cars passing by, of people talking on as though monsters didn't lurk the entirety of the Earth, as though Akira hadn't just materialized out of nowhere.

He inhaled, shallowly, and blinked again.

He was ninety percent sure he had just been walking to school, Miki trailing behind him, his thoughts still consumed with the memory of the night before. Ryo had told him to stop doing that, but he couldn't help it. With the demon inside him, he was surprised he didn't feel more conflicted; no, instead he felt even more impassioned with each kill he made. (Maybe he shouldn't be surprised, after all)

But the demon the night before… with its shell of death masks… he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Akira shook his head, neck twinging in protest. There, he was doing it again! Going off into la la land, lost in thought. Ryo would've noticed lickity-split, would've shaken him outta his funk with a few choice words.

But then again, he doubted anything would change whether he was distracted or not. A waitress had already delivered him a sandwich he hadn't ordered, with everything that he liked on a sandwich, but _he hadn't ordered it._  So it sat in front of him while he tried to untangle this conundrum.

Of course, the sandwich wasn't the biggest source of his confusion. No, that award went to the horrendously confusing experience of being magically teleported, unaware - at first - and unwillingly, from walking to school in the morning to sitting in a diner, alone, in the afternoon.

It had felt like he'd been pushed through a narrow tube, with colourful lights that blinded him, spinning dizzingly all around him. And the pure white light that followed… he was still blinking the glare out of his vision.

Akira sighed, and wished Ryo was here. That guy had a knack for randomly guessing correctly the whys and hows of a problem, and he was smart, too. He would be able to say exactly what was going on, with only a couple minutes of thinking. Akira had been thinking for a good half hour, and all he did was give himself a headache.

“Are you going to eat that?” Startled, Akira turned to see a tall, dark stranger looming over him, seemingly unaware of his own height. The fellow had a warm smile on his face, though.

“Uh, um, I'm good to share it if you…?” He gestured meaninglessly towards the sandwich, trying and failing to keep his bewilderment hidden. What the fuck was Akira even saying? Why was he even offering to share _his_  sandwich with this _random_  ass dude?

But the stranger continued smiling and nodded, his face relaxing minutely. He plopped down opposite of Akira, and tugged the sandwich to himself. He cut it in half without looking at Akira once, and he had to wonder why the guy would even approach him.

“It's my favourite kind of sandwich, and you were just sitting here, staring at it, like it'd kill your mom if you touched it.” The guy chomped into his portion, gulping it down like it was nothing. “I _had_  to say something, before you killed the poor thing by sheer neglect.”

Akira blinked. “Huh?”

The other laughed. “Well, you're not very talkative. But really, what're you doing here, _demon?”_

The last word was _spat,_ the man leaning into his face so suddenly that Akira got a good whiff of the guy's breathe before he closed his mouth. Gross.

Then, his nose twitched.

_Demon?_

“Who are you callin’ demon, you damn demon!?” Akira snarled, leaning forward to meet the stranger's glare. “And seriously? If I was, this is _not_  the place to find out.”

The two glared at each other, tension palpable. Then the stranger leaned even closer, and stuck his nose in Akira's hair.

With a shout, Akira threw himself back, face so red it might as well have been a cherry. The other guy looked panicked, and grabbed Akira's arm before he could cause an even bigger scene. Akira could've sworn that the guy was on the verge of tears - what the hell?

Akira let the stranger drag him out, confident enough in his abilities to take the guy out and confused enough to let him do so. As the stranger dragged Akira into a narrow alley, he remembered his half of the sandwich was still sitting, abandoned, at the diner table. He could hardly contain his groan. He had actually been a little peckish.

In the darkness of the alleyway, the strange demon threw Akira against the wall, stepping back to survey him as he recovered from the sudden throw.

“You… asshole…” Akira wheezed. “The hell’s your problem?”

Well, Akira already knew what the guy's problem was - he was a fucking demon, for Christ’s sake - but something was up and this was the first demon he'd met in this place, and it was acting strange. And if Ryo were here, he'd say that the guy knew something, and to listen closely for clues. Although, when Ryo said that, it meant he, himself, wasn't listening, and he needed Akira to memorize every word said so he could figure out what to do later, when he wasn't spacing out (or high).

The stranger just stared at him, a pensive expression tightening his face. Akira let him stand there, staring, as he got his wind back.

“You smell very strange, demon.”

“No shit, asshole. Different people smell different, wow, what a fucking concept,” Akira spat. He was hungry, and disorientated, and winded, and he was quickly losing his patience. “Now, we gonna hurry this up, or what?”

The stranger scowled. “I'm not going to fight you. You--”

“What? After dragging me forcefully into a goddamn dark, narrow alley, like some old yakuza cliché - and you're _not_  going to fight me?” Akira scoffed. “Forgive me for not eating _that_  bullshit.”

Man, what a let down, too. At this rate, his demon blood was going to blow out of the top of his head, like a particularly gruesome volcano.

The guy sighed, and sat down against the wall. “Look, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that. I thought you were a demon. But…”

_He can tell I'm something else?_ Akira inhaled sharply. _No demon would ever recognize me as something else. I'm always the human, I'm always the demon; who is this guy?_

For a heavy moment, silence sat upon the two. Akira breathed slowly, watching the other closely. He was pressing his face into his knees, almost like he was… distressed? What was up with this guy?

A suspicion wiggled in Akira's mind, then. A small, thin worm of thought, a theory of… what this guy was. And if he was right… then Akira couldn't blame him for his knee-jerk attitude change.

So, without thinking - because that was what Ryo did; Akira, once he had an idea, jumped straight to it - Akira leaned forward and took a big sniff of the guy's hair. No time to feel weird - if Akira would have to get Ryo to reassure him later that, no, Akira wasn't a dog, sniffing other people's hair was perfectly fine, for now at least.

The guy stiffened, but Akira was already leaning back, mind awhirl.

“You…” The stranger paused. “Are you…?”

Akira hesitated. And nodded.

The stranger's eyes immediately brightened, grin overtaking his face. “Wow!”

Akira just stared.

“So, um, I guess I should introduce myself, shouldn't I?” The guy yapped on. “I'm Akira, Akira Fudo! But I'm also Devilman.”

 

* * *

 

Ryo Asuka continued typing on his laptop as the sudden burst of white light faded, only sparing a momentary glance at the strange figure that was left in its absence.

The figure swayed for a moment, as though it had thought it had held something large and bulky, but now only held air. Its hands wavered, grasping at nothing, but before long it stilled.

Ryo was well versed in both psychology and the supernatural; psychologically, he was concerned that, for whatever reason, he had begun hallucinating. Supernaturally, he was concerned that, for whatever reason, some teleporting creature had unwittingly found his apartment. But the being did nothing; it stood and watched, and nothing more. For over an hour, it simply stood, and stared. Ryo had no doubt it knew he was watching it as well.

It had neck-length hair, so blonde it was almost white; but under the sunlight that peaked through Ryo’s curtains, it glimmered sunset gold. It held itself stiffly, almost as though it thought itself incapable of natural balance. Its clothes draped plainly on it, trench coat hanging loosely on its shoulders. It let its hands hang at its side. It remained faceless in his vision.

But after the soft chime of the hour passing faded from the room, it began to move.

Slow, methodical. Ryo had to focus on keeping his eyes on his laptop screen, but his attention was on the being. It sat beside him, long fingers resting on its knees.

“Are you going to continue ignoring me?”

Its voice… Ryo couldn't tell if he was afraid or if the room had suddenly grown colder. Never before had he considered calling Akira when he was in danger, but alarms were going off in his head like there was a nuclear meltdown. And maybe there was, but Ryo refused to run to his friend; Akira was the one who ran to Ryo, not the other way around.

“I haven't decided whether you're a hallucination or something dangerous yet.” Ryo stopped typing. He let his palms rest on the laptop keyboard; didn't look up. “I think you're not a hallucination, but I can't tell if you're a danger.”

A chuckle. “Of course I'm a danger. But I think I won't be a danger to you, unless you, yourself, prove yourself a danger to me.”

Ryo finally closed the laptop, and looked up.

The being had blue eyes; long lashes that elegantly lined its eyes, and a smirking, thin mouth. Its face was a stranger’s, but a cold shiver shot down his spine.

“Are you going to introduce yourself? Or are you just a waste of time.” Ryo said, his heart shaking slightly with dread.

“I think you'll find me the exact opposite,” the being sneered. “I am Ryo Asuka, but you may call me Satan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have no idea when i'll get back to this. hm... i have another two to three chapters planned out, but its meh. anyways, heres hair sniffing and generally clunky exposition.


	3. Chapter 3

He can't quite keep his eyes from widening, his mouth from dropping open in a gape - dumbfounded. Because what the hell. What the actual hell?

 

Was it coincidence? But Akira  _ had _ just been teleported… he somehow didn't doubt dimensional travel was a possibility. An extremely bizarre, absurd one, but he'd experienced weirder. Like being turned into a shapeshifting half demon. That was pretty weird.

 

The guy blubbered through Akira’s inner panic, chattering about his house - apparently there was another Miki, and by God if that didn't shake his bones - about how he turned - at a party, but also inside a church, and that’s pretty damn strange - about how much changed, etc, etc, yadda yadda yadda--

 

“Ryo’s been helping me so much through all this!”

 

Ryo?

 

_ There was another Ryo?? _

 

The thought was so electric, and he couldn't figure out why he hadn't realized it before. If he had teleported almost directly to  _ himself… _

 

Was his Ryo here, too?

 

“By the way, what’d you say your name was?”

 

Akira’s line of thought was broken. He swallowed dryly, and frantically searched in his mind for a name that wouldn't sound too fake. “Um… You can call me… uh… Todoki?”

 

The guy - God, he can't call this guy by his own name… he decided to dub him ‘Aki,’ in his head - gave him a sceptical look, but it disappeared in a smile, and he stretched out a hand. Akira took it with only a little hesitation, thoughts of instantly disintegrating or imploding the universe rushing through his head. But nothing happened.

 

“It's nice to meet you, Todoki!” Aki vigorously shook his hand, and laughed. “Hey, why don't you come over to my place? I haven't really seen you around town - did you just get here? Do you have a place to stay?”

 

Akira shifted uncomfortably, the guy's questions overwhelming him.  _ Did _ he have a place to stay…?

 

“I… yeah, I just got here. Was hoping to meet up with a friend, but he's…” Akira feigned a casual shrug, but lieing was definitely not his forte, and now wasn't exactly the best attempt, either. But Aki was eating the lie up like he was starving. “Well, you know.”

 

Aki most certain did  _ not _ know, but he nodded enthusiastically anyway. Was this guy really that happy at meeting another like him? Akira was too caught up in feeling uneasy to feel that good about it.

 

“I don't have anywhere to stay, so if you--”

 

“You can stay over at my place!” Aki interrupted, and Akira jumped. He'd been planning on asking if the kid knew any place to stay, not if he could stay over.

 

“What - What about those people you mentioned? The Makimuras? Won't they mind?”

 

Aki threw a casual, dismissive gesture at him, smile still fixed on his face. His teeth, just as sharp as Akira's, were poking out, so similar to a kitten’s that Akira only barely withheld his coo at the adorable sight. “They're out on business, except for Miki.”

 

Akira nodded, and, inwardly sighing, steeled himself. If Ryo was really out there, he would have better luck with his weird double than on his own. He was lucky that the guy was so overly enthusiastic about something that was honestly kind of sad. But Akira wouldn't judge him for it.

 

“Alright. I'll stay over, but only for a few days. I want to try to find my friend.” Akira said, and Aki nodded. Before he could react, the other had grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the alleyway.

 

Aki didn't stop talking the entire way, pulling Akira through crowds thick and thin to get to the residential areas. Eventually, they approached a large, vaguely familiar but definitely unfamiliar house.

 

“This is it! I'll go get Miki, and we'll figure out the details,” Aki said, bounding into the house. Akira followed, taking in the western style decor and religious tokens hung on the wall. “You can hang out. There's some snacks in the fridge - I know you didn't eat that sandwich, and I'm hungry all the time, so you're probably the same, right?”

 

Akira hummed in agreement absently. His Makimuras were not religious, to his knowledge. He hadn't been living with them for long, so if they were, they were not nearly as active as these people were.

 

He grabbed an apple from the kitchen counter, and returned to the living room. The two strangers were already there, and were whispering to each other. He hung back in the entryway, torn between attempting to listen with his demonically enhanced hearing and respecting the obvious privacy the two were engaged in. Before he could decide (he was leaning on the side of listening), they broke their conversation short.

 

“Oh! Hi! You're Todoki, right?” said Miki - and she had to be Miki, although she looked so… different - and she gestured for him to sit with them. “I'm Miki Makimura. Akira said you needed a place to stay, and I'm totally ok with that. Just, how long are you planning for?”

 

Akira swallowed. Jesus, even her voice sounded different. This was so  _ weird. _ But maybe he should've expected it, with how utterly different from him his own double was. “Uh, if it's ok with you - No more than a week. Should find somewhere else by then, and maybe my friend’ll turn up, too.”

 

“That's great!” Miki smiled. “Just some ground rules, alright?”

 

The rules were pretty simple - clean up after himself, make sure not to let anyone in that the others didn't know, etc, etc. Akira nodded along to each sentence. The day had grown late. Miki showed him the hallway closet, full of blankets and pillows, and he was ushered into bed - or, well, onto a futon that the two rested beside the fireplace. Still so strange for the house to be so Western, but it was almost comforting. The Makimuras also had the same type of decor, so he took some solace in that.

 

Now that he had a moment to think, he considered the situation. Was he so sure that this was a different dimension? Could he have been just transported somewhere else? It wasn't that much of a coincidence for there to be a devilman with his name, who knew people by the same names as his own friends, right?

 

But he dismissed that possibility almost immediately. As they had been walking to the house, Aki had chatted up a storm about the area they were in, and Akira had caught sight of several fliers. It really was only a few days past from when he had been, and he was in the same city. And boy, this city looked practically  _ nothing _ like his. It was a trip and a half, just walking around, knowing that.

 

Ryo had poured over as many documents about demons as he could, and Akira  _ knew _ there were demons capable of transporting their victims hundreds of miles away, or even trapping them inside a ‘pocket universe’. Was it really such a leap to believe he was in a different universe entirely? One where his alternate self had a butt chin and a lanky figure, one where Miki was a diminutive, delicate seeming young girl?

 

Oh, what was he kidding - as much as he thought he  _ should _ be doubtful, he already fully believed his dumb theory. At this point, what was the point in being so hung up over it?

 

Akira shook his head, turning over - just in time to see the strange boy who held his name but not his face creep into the foyer. Akira shut his eyes reflexively, and made his breathing shallow.

 

He waited, straining his ears to listen. The creak of feet shuffling their weight; hesitance. Then, a barely stifled sigh of relief, and the click of the door opening.

 

Where was Aki going? There was only one way to find out.

 

* * *

Ryo followed his other self diligently, feet only just touching the ground.

 

He had not reacted negatively, nor had he really reacted at all. Ryo found himself almost disappointed by such a lack of response, but it would make his mission that much easier to accomplish if his alternate did not object. As it was, the other had only stood abruptly at his announcement, and hurried out of the room. Ryo had stood back, knowing full well what the other was seeking. Sadly, all he would find was a body, still and asleep. Not death, of course. He did not wish for his chosen companions to die.

 

Now, the young boy - and oh, he couldn't be anything but a youngster, with his flashing eyes and hurried fingers, and he could just hear its thoughts:  _ ‘how could we have the same name? he claims to be Satan, and my guard is in deep sleep, I cannot wake her. what does he want?’ _ (Such unnecessary musing. None of those questions had any meaning; their answers had even less value.) - was leading them… somewhere. If he were to guess, he'd say they were to meet with his little gang of highblood demons. Demons capable of much more than the standard, common monster.

 

Little Asuka would greatly regret it if he truly was leading Ryo to them.

 

They finally exited the building, and Asuka rushed to a very sleek and well maintained car. Ryo had to bite back a whisper of envy in his heart at the sight.

 

Before they could climb in and drive off (and maybe he was looking forward to it just a bit), a shadow leapt out, halting Asuka’s hand before the boy could withdraw his rifle from his coat. Ryo was glad to sink into the background, and watched with diligent eyes.

 

“Ryo! I know I should've called you, but I have something really important to tell you!” The youngster - a boy with dark hair and dark eyes, and  _ oh,  _ Ryo knew this boy. How could he not?

 

Asuka had responded, but the words were drowned, drowned as Ryo himself was drowned. The last time he had lain eyes on Akira…

 

_ I tried to hold you. To hold you to my heart and keep you. _

 

He shook himself from his thoughts, but still, every atom of his being betrayed him in the desire to reach out, to touch, to  _ hold  _ again. But this wasn't the Akira he knew. This wasn't really Akira.

 

A third figure tore him from his thoughts, a yellowed shadow that smelled of sulfur and ash. It crept slowly forward, unseen by the two who whispered, words falling through Ryo’s mind. And he was once again flooded, confusion suffocating him.

 

There were arms crushing him, wrapped right around his ribcage. Akira was hugging him, and he could feel his shirt wetten as the other cried. Ryo felt tears slither down his cheeks, and, without thinking, returned the embrace.

 

“Is… is anyone gonna say anything?”

 

Ryo let Akira go, sniffling. The alternates stared at them, eyes bewildered. Ryo did not say a word.

 

“Todoki? What're you doing here? Do you know this guy?” Akira-who-wasn't said. “Ryo? Who  _ is _ this guy? Not gonna introduce me to your new friend?”

 

The last bit he said with a laugh, jokingly nudging Asuka’s side. The boy sighed, and looked beseechingly at Ryo and Akira. Akira wiped his eyes, and stepped in front of Ryo. Ryo felt a twinge in his chest, and he rested his hand on the other's warm back.

 

“I was looking for my friend, and damn, I'm so glad that he's here,” smiled Akira, and he reached back to squeeze Ryo’s hand. “This is my friend, Ryo--u.”

 

Ryo swiftly tugged on Akira’s hand, and Akira dragged out the ‘o’ sound. It would be too much to share a name with the bowl-cut child, but the best he could do was get Akira to slightly change the pronunciation.

 

“Ryo and Ryou?” Fudou said, delighted. He laughed again, clamping an arm around Asuka. “That's awesome! So, Ryo, how'd you come to meet this fellow?”

 

Ryo shifted uncomfortably, and interrupted before Asuka could fuck up. “I was on my way home, when Asuka requested my help with something. I don't usually offer my services, but I believed it would be a good way to earn some cash. As my friend said, we have been looking for each other.”

 

There were many ways he could be misunderstood. For one, Fudou could believe he was offering services of a… certain kind of skill, instead of the implication he wanted to give (which was: maintenance, demon hunting, clerical, or perhaps even drug dealing). For another, Akira had not said that they were looking for each other; only that  _ he _ was looking for Ryo. But Ryo didn't have the time nor even the motivation to come up with a better suiting lie. All he knew was that it would be easier if Fudou did not know the truth, and that if Asuka were to attempt to lie, it would fall apart. Better to trust his own low chances than to take such an unknown risk.

 

Despite his concerns, Fudou swallowed the lie with a grin and a laugh. “Well, that's great! Although I could've helped, Ryo.”

 

“It… wasn't that important, Akira.”

 

“Now that I've found Ryou, I don't think I need to stay at your place anymore,” Akira said carefully.

 

“But--”

 

“No, it's alright. We can find somewhere quiet to go.”

 

Asuka jumped in, biting out, “No. I have things I need to accomplish, and you two are required.”

 

Ryo rolled his eyes, sighing through his teeth. He did not  _ require _ Asuka’s assistance. All he needed was right next to him. He was fully capable of  _ accomplishing _ what he desired.

 

“I really don't think we need to hang around,” Akira said, sending a glance to Ryo. He looked… nervous. “If you need us, you can keep in contact, right?”

 

“Wait!” Fudou waved his arms around. Throughout the conversation, he had been growing increasingly jittery, and he seemed to be letting out the energy now. “Wait wait wait WAIT!”

 

He strode out between them all, arms swinging. “Todoki, you - you're a devilman, just like me! Why would I  _ want  _ you to leave?”

 

Nobody said a word. Ryo watched Akira carefully, watched as apprehension slowly morphed into guilt. He sighed internally.

 

“Akira.”

 

And Akira jolted, swinging around to face him. Sometimes, it felt like he was speaking an entirely different language when he addressed his companion. Sometimes, it was like a tongue of lightning leapt from his mouth, meeting Akira in a burst of static.

 

“I'll find my own place to stay. Do you have a phone?”

 

At Akira’s quiet ‘no,’ Ryo smiled fondly and continued, “I'll get you one. Don't worry. I'll keep in contact with you through that.”

 

He felt his hand sweep over his friend’s shoulder, down Akira’s arm. For a moment, he soaked in that presence; not quite  _ his, _ of course, but it was so very much like it. If he closed his eyes, he could believe that it could be - for as long as he could breathe.

 

“You can stay with Fudou,” he said, knowing fully that no one had mentioned the boy’s last name, knowing full well that both Asuka and Akira would have to cover his slip. “I'll go find my own place to stay.”

 

He opened his eyes, just to see Akira stare back, tears glimmering, and nod. He smiled.

 

Of course Fudou had to interrupt the moment. Again.

 

“But, Ryou, you don't have to do that! You can stay with me!”

 

Ryo gave the boy a deadpan stare. “Then where will… Todoki… stay?”

 

_ What a terrible false name for such a beautiful soul. _

 

“He can stay with my Ryo!” He grabbed Asuka in another squeezing embrace, all smiles. “It'll be like a, uh, switcheroo! Y’know, like switching friends for a day! Or, a, a sleepover!”

 

He was so enthusiastic. Almost exuberant. Ryo couldn't help a bemused chuckle, the ridiculous idea breaking him from his serious thoughts. “As… fun as that seems, I don't want to burden you - either of you - more so than I already have.”

 

“It won't be a burden,” Asuka slid into the conversation quietly. He seemed to waver in the background, but now his eyes were steel. “I'm curious about the…  _ devilman _ that Akira’s found. And this way, we'll be able to assist each other with whatever we each seek.”

 

Yes, the boy's eyes were of flint; sharp and sparking.  _ This way,  _ his eyes said,  _ I'll be able to keep an eye on you and find out exactly who this ‘Todoki’ really is. _

 

Akira turned to him, and he saw the hope, the curiosity, and the trepidation battling inside his friend. Ryo was to have the final say, but although he knew it would be best to stay as incognito as possible, he was beginning to become curious, himself. Just how different were these afterimages, these upside down reflections of him and Akira?

 

After a long pause, with Akira’s hand in his own, he finally smiled and nodded. Might as well humour his curiosity; after all, curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.


	4. Chapter 4

Ryo didn't know what to make of his new houseguest. First impressions were always important, but they could be wrong just as often as they could be right. He did not want to draw conclusions before he had thoroughly inspected and analyzed all information available to him.

 

Todoki was a tall, well built man, of perhaps twenty, maybe a little older, maybe a little younger. He had windswept black hair, curly at the ends and wild at the temples. His furrowed brows and serious eyes denoted a quick temper, but his ease at releasing control to the bizarre creature that had forced Jenny into a deep slumber either spoke of an eagerness to follow or a deep trust, which had clearly been returned in kind. After all, Ryo was not so easily distracted as sweet Akira; he did not miss the quiet communication between the two, nor how the demon (was it a demon? He wasn't sure) pulled the man aside, speaking in a whisper, almost in tongues Ryo could not understand.

 

As far as Akira knew, the man was new to town, was a devilman, and had been searching for his friend for some kind of meet up. Not exactly the type to ask questions, his Akira. That was one of his charms, really.

 

As of now, the mysterious companion to the also enigmatic monster ‘Satan’ was following him into his penthouse. He had more than enough room, so he wasn't bothered by the extra presence. Fortunate, that he had had the forethought to take care of Jenny’s limp body before hand.

 

He snapped out of his thoughts when a sharp dog whistle echoed throughout the cavernous floor. “Goddamn, this place is  _ huge. _ ”

 

Ryo looked back, and stopped dead in his tracks.

 

Todoki was looking around, eyes found as the moon, twisting his head around, arms swaying at his sides. His hair curled gently around his ears, brushing against the dark skin of his neck.

 

He nearly choked, when he realised he was staring. There wasn't even anything spectacular about the scene - it was just… encapturing. He didn't know, and he pressed a hand to his mouth, and turned quickly away, forcing out an answer. “Yes, I am well aware. I keep a high paying position as a consultant and educator; it does well in financing my demon hunting.”

 

Todoki startled, and hurried until he was right beside Ryo. “You hunt demons, too?”

 

“Yes. I was unaware that there were others involved in such a dangerous occupation; if you don't mind me prodding, how  _ did _ you come to--?”

 

“I - don't really mind, but I'd rather not get… into the gorey details,” Todoki interrupted with a grimace. “All I want to say is that it was awful, and Ryo- _ u  _ nearly died for it.”

 

Ryo cast a sharp eyed glance to the dark haired man, who had the most downcast expression. He considered, then said, “You don't need to attempt to use that farce of an alias. He already introduced himself to me.”

 

“Wha-- really? He didn't tell me that,” Todoki pouted. “So… you know he's…”

 

Did this kindly seeming man know his best friend was a demon? As a demon hunter, it was absolutely possible the double had lied to Todoki. He couldn't be sure. And if so, he wasn't ready to take a risk at angering a powerful demon.

 

“Yes. Ryo Asuka, allegedly.”

 

Ryo had begun to turn away, ready to leave the conversation at that. But Todoki spoke up.

 

“No - not allegedly.”

 

He made a questioning sound, entering the kitchen. Todoki followed closely behind, eyes dark. “I don't know if he would want me to tell you, but if it's any proof - my real name’s Akira Fudou.”

 

A shock. Like the earth crumbling under his feet - confusion, because why was he surprised? But it hadn't been slow; no, the shock had been sudden. It burst through him and locked his joints. He couldn't even face the other.

 

_ It makes sense! Of course! _

 

“Can you prove that?”

 

He already knew, of course, of course. But did he?

 

_ If it's true, then it makes the stranger wearing his name but not his face that much more dangerous. _

 

“Of course!” An echo of his thoughts. “I can just - show you, right? I'm not super large, and I'm not sure how close me and Aki--”

 

_ Aki? That's what he's calling his doppelganger? Really? _

 

“--look to each other, cuz we already look so differently already, but it's worth a try, right?”

 

Ryo nodded. Akira - was it Akira? - made a noise, perhaps of agreement, perhaps of happiness, and the clicking of bones and squelch of flesh rearranging itself filled his ears. He resisted the urge to heave, his own bones aching at what must be a painful process. Akira -  _ his  _ Akira - didn't make this much disgusting noise when he transformed.

 

“ **O K** !” The voice was garbled, as of spoken around bunches of teeth - different from Akira’s own strangely echo words. Much more physical. “ **Y O U  C A N L O O K** !”

 

He looked.

 

The beast - oh, if he changed the colour, if it were bigger, it would be unmistakably Akira - the Devilman. Bulky muscle, dark, human skin - another difference, he noted, as  _ his  _ Akira had a light coat of fur over the entirety of his body - and a whiplash tail. And his jaw was indeed mangled; spread much wider than was humanly possible, with several sets of demonic fangs bursting out of his gums. A beast, one of contradictions and deja vu.

 

It felt like he had seen this creature over and over, yet when he finally met the true incarnation of it, it was very, very different.

 

“ **H A V E  Y O U  G O T T E N  Y O U R  P R O O F** ?”

 

Ryo nodded, and the stranger he could only refer to as  _ Akira _ settled back into a near human form with a click of teeth and unsettling movement of meat. Now that he had seen the true form of the monster, he could catch the  _ in _ human aspects that those who did not know could not see.

 

The sharpened ears. The large fangs. The wildness of his hair, the broad build - the glimpse of red markings, just around the clavicle. He had no doubt that Akira had none of it before the first transformation.

 

“So. I'm gonna be staying here for awhile, I guess,” Todoki -  _ Akira _ \- said. “You gonna show me where I'll be sleeping?”

 

* * *

Ryo didn't know what to make of Fudou’s… sibling. He hadn't dealt with Miki in what felt like years; conversations between them just never seemed to happen. But he could tell, very quickly, just how different this girl was compared to the spitfire woman he knew.

 

“Hi! Akira texted me beforehand. Weird day, right?” She smiled, and her eyes were so gentle, so welcoming. He couldn't help how his shoulders relaxed, even as he became more alert. “You're Todoki’s friend, Ryou - and it's just too funny, that you've got the same name as that jerk!”

 

Ah. Not so sweet, it seemed.

 

“Yes, I'm Ryou. Thank you for allowing me to stay.”

 

Fudou thumped his shoulder, saying, “You sure it's not an issue, Miki? I know it's a bit - ok,  _ very _ \- sudden…”

 

“No, no, it's no problem. I really do want to meet your friends! You always try to hide them from me,” She waved a dismissive hand, smiling at Fudou’s embarrassed laugh. “Anyways, I doubt you want to listen to us chatter on, and it's getting pretty late. We already set up Todoki’s spot, so you can take his, ok?”

 

Ryo nodded, thinking all the while. It seemed even without the angry tenacity that drove the Miki he knew, this Miki knew how to take charge. She was definitely a powerful character, and perhaps it was a blessing that she was nowhere near as aggressive as the Miki Makimura of the past.

 

That night, he lay sleepless, mind running through plans and ideas, actions and possible scenarios. He did not pause to consider how he had truly come to be here, instead of once more rebirthing into yet another doomed universe.

 

He already knew why. No use in crippling his abilities over the obsessive string of thought that would unravel at the slightest prompting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so. tired
> 
> so, like, its 4 am, i thought itd be nice to have shit posted on new years eve cuz im stupid. so the next segment of concrete beggars is experiencing trouble, but ides of midnight has two chaps, im just too tired to format amd post em rn. so you get these two trash chaps, which have 0 html editing cuz its fucking 4 am, ok
> 
> anyways heres this. i wrote it in,,november lol


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